Attention all Knifemakers!.....Product dealers/retailers and/or knife makers/sharpeners/hobbyists (etc) are not permitted to insert business related text/videos/images (company/company name/product references) and/or links into your signature line, your homepage url (within the homepage profile box), within any posts, within your avatar, nor anywhere else on this site. Market research (such as asking questions regarding or referring to products/services that you make/offer for sale or posting pictures of finished projects) is prohibited. These features are reserved for supporting vendors and hobbyists.....Also, there is no need to announce to the community that you are a knifemaker unless you're trying to sell something so please refrain from sharing.
Thanks for your co-operation!

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

When it comes down to it you have to prove yourself in the kitchen, but often times it's the title earned at a previous job that gives you that opportunity. As somebody else said, your contacts are your best asset when looking for a job. Since having a champion isn't always possible, prestige helps too - enter the title. You are likely to have a potential employer's ear longer with an intro of sous vs line.

If You have an offer on the table, and you want it, take it. Don't burn bridges.
If you don't, take the title and the money and work on lining out some opportunities to meet some of your potential chefs... perhaps see the kitchens. Tell them you Have aspirations, see if you can pick up some work on your days off.

My $0.02

-Enjoy the ride. *** All statements made herein are my personal opinion and nothing more, regardless of tone or context. ***

Salty and Eamon make good points. I have not worked in a restaurant, other than flipping burgers in '64, but I have burned some bridges and have also employed a handful of good craftspeople to work for me. I think the people you want to work for down the road will appreciate the respect and appreciation you have for your present employer, who appears to have made a nice offer. Resume's are important, but so is character, and your story.

As far as the job......... Just my opinion, Leaving behind good relationships with past employers will pay in spades later in your career. You'd be doing the current mangement a favor, getting a title and more scratch.

You may have to call on a favor some day. Karma is a good thing.

Exp. if you are staying in the same town. Take the move up were you are at, then talk to other places to see if they are even considering a position you could take. The old saying a bird in the hand is worth more than 2 in the bush comes to mind here.

Boston has an extremely small and incestious culinary scene. Everyone sees each other all the time and has hired, fired, worked with the same people at various restaurants. There are about 4 or 5 restaurant groups that have their teeth in and trade cooks, dishwashers, servers.

I agree with some of the others if you have a job for sure lines up at a better place take it! Money will come from expoetence and later on, right now focus on skills and learning responsibility and becoming a leader. If you push yourself everyday you will only get better.

However if you don't have a for sure lined up job then stay put enjoy the money and start looking definetly don't burn any bridges I'd be honest and tell them your staying but are continuing to look and after season it's a good chance you will have an offer.

I worked at the best places took a lot of **** and worked soo hard for penny's and now it's paying off. Put in the hardwork now and it'll pay off eventually.

Good luck man! Also one thing I learned don't be scared to make mistakes!! Just be wise enough to learn from them! And dont give excuses ever chefs don't care why it's wrong it's just wrong just say yes or ok and you will be good!

Don't leave them hanging, if they need you. Sounds like they are willing to work with you and think you are important enough to keep. If an offer comes that is amazing they will understand. Be honest with them, let them know you want to try something different and learn new skills. Work hard for them and ask for more creative responsibility in the kitchen, start making specials and start asking the chef more question, you might be surprised at what your chef knows how to do even though you may not see it. We get in a rutt and often times forget that we are chefs. Your questions may cause a creative spark in your chef and you may want to stay. You never know stranger things have happened. stay hungry

I haven't lived the life I wanted, just the lives I needed too at the time.

Don't leave them hanging, if they need you. Sounds like they are willing to work with you and think you are important enough to keep. If an offer comes that is amazing they will understand. Be honest with them, let them know you want to try something different and learn new skills. Work hard for them and ask for more creative responsibility in the kitchen, start making specials and start asking the chef more question, you might be surprised at what your chef knows how to do even though you may not see it. We get in a rutt and often times forget that we are chefs. Your questions may cause a creative spark in your chef and you may want to stay. You never know stranger things have happened. stay hungry

Hard to respond to everything you all wrote (which I appreciate very much), but here it goes. I definitely understand that loyalty and longevity are key. I am grateful to my current employers for all that they have done and I have clearly expressed this to them. They have also stated that they only want me to stay if I feel that it will truly work for me. And i do realize all the ways it will benefit me and am currently leaning towards taking them up on their offer. Boston's incestuous nature, as far as kitchens go, is not lost on me and I have no intentions of burning bridges. I am just very intent on building a knowledge base that will take me forward. One concern that I should have expressed in my original post was that I wanted to avoid being a glorified line cook..I have no issue with working on the line; I LOVE cooking. I just didn;t want a situation where I remained stagnant in education for 4 months for just a bump in pay. However, that issue was addressed in a meeting today and I was happy to hear the response.

I don't currently have a job lined up, but I am confident that the way I hold myself in a kitchen and respect the food and employees (from the chef to the dishwashers) would lead to an offer from a number of the places in which I am interested. That being said, I feel as though you are all correct in saying that I shouldn't leave them hanging. I know my value to them (mostly because they have stated it) and I want to leave them feeling as though I gave them my all. I have not made any decision yet and will likely take a couple stages to see what is out there, but it seems as though the answer is relatively easy. Keep the responses coming though! I like reading the thoughts of any peers or outsiders.